KB Securities posts 1.4347 trillion won in Q3 operating profit; WM reaches 1.5 trillion won year to date

[Financial News] KB Securities said on the 29th that it posted consolidated operating profit of 1.4347 trillion won, pretax profit of 1.4726 trillion won and net profit of 1.074 trillion won in the third quarter of this year.
According to the company that day, the wealth management (WM) division posted cumulative total operating profit of 1.5 trillion won through the third quarter. The wholesale division, which handles institutional sales, also recorded its highest-ever cumulative performance through the third quarter. 
The company said the WM division supplied products to respond to increased stock market volatility and operated a crisis-response system. It added that efforts to continuously expand its digital customer base by building an investment platform focused on asset growth and broadening AI-based investment information services had proved effective.
The investment banking (IB) division generated results in debt capital markets (DCM), equity capital markets (ECM) and acquisition finance. In DCM, it expanded sole and large-scale lead-manager mandates and led the issuance of Foreign Exchange Stabilization Fund bonds and kimchi bonds. In ECM, it led seven IPOs for mid-sized companies and numerous paid-in capital increases.
The acquisition finance business handled 14 domestic and overseas transactions. The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) division provided advisory services related to Woori Financial Group and Tongyang Life, advised on Netmarble’s share swap, and handled Saramin’s tender offer, among other work. Project finance maintained profitability through transactions related to the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) and pursued projects linking domestic and overseas infrastructure with equity investments.
The Capital Markets Group continued to grow earnings year on year through its equities and equity-linked securities (ELS) businesses and proprietary hedging operations. It expanded its equity derivatives business through collaboration with the WM division and diversification of underlying assets, while also pursuing client-transaction-based businesses such as foreign exchange (FX) and global bond sales. Coordination between its equity sales and trading operations helped stabilize earnings from proprietary ELS hedging.
The wholesale division expanded revenue from domestic active and passive businesses and its liquidity provider (LP) business. Growth in hedge fund assets under management and its securities lending pool also helped the prime brokerage services (PBS) business continue to grow.  
A KB Securities representative said, "The IB division plans to selectively take on mandates centered on high-quality deals, strengthen its traditional IB competitiveness, and diversify its business portfolio through investments in infrastructure and growth companies, thereby improving both profitability and capital efficiency. The WM division plans to strengthen tailored wealth management and collaboration among KB Financial Group affiliates, and to focus on expanding client assets and building a stable earnings structure by upgrading its AI-based investment information services."


[email protected] Joo Won-gyu Reporter